Bellator 105 results: Brooks and Sarnavskiy book tourney-final date

Will Brooks got caught in their first meeting. But in their second, which headlined Friday’s Bellator 105 event, he assured he wouldn’t suffer a similar fate. But he had a few close calls.

With a ticket to the Season 9 lightweight tournament final up for grabs, Brooks (12-1 MMA, used a steady stream of takedowns and dominant top positions to top Saad Awad (15-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) via unanimous decision.

The bout, which was the only one on the card to go the distance, took place at Santa Ana Star Casino in Rio Rancho, N.M. It aired on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com.

Brooks, whose only career loss came via knockout to Awad in the semifinals of a Season 8 tournament, had his fair share of close calls. He unloaded a knee to his downed opponent in the first round that was barely legal, he was saved by the bell from a triangle choke at the end of the second round, and he sidestepped Awad’s wild but powerful power punches in his opponent’s desperate late-fight volley.

However, with stellar conditioning, a smart and elusive standup strategy, and the ability to escape troublesome positions, Brooks frustrated Awad, who struggled to put together sustained attacks. After reversing a takedown in the final frame, the American Top Team product easily sidestepped Awad’s wild strikes and secured a final takedown, which allowed him to close out the fight in top position.

In the end, the judges unanimously scored the bout 30-27 for Brooks.

“I’ve been through a lot to get to his point in my life,” Brooks said. “Me, my family, my friends – we’ve all made extreme sacrifices so I could chase one dream that everyone in here is chasing.

“To be here, after losing that second fight in the tournament last year (to Awad), I don’t know what to say.”

Brooks next will meet the winner of the night’s co-headliner in the tourney final. Their bout is slated for Bellator 109 on Nov. 22.

Sarnavskiy’s spinning back fist sets up quick win

A quick and accurate spinning back fist set up a speedy and efficient victory for Alexander Sarnavskiy.

In the night’s co-headliner and other lightweight tournament semifinal, “Tiger” immediately opened the bout with a spinning back fist, which caught Ricardo Tirloni flush on the chin. The Brazilian crashed to the mat, and Sarnavskiy immediately pounced with ground and pound.

Although he didn’t get the finish right then, he locked on a guillotine and then transitioned to a triangle choke, which forced Tirloni to fire off desperation punches. However, Sarnavskiy simply grabbed his opponent’s ankles to help torque the choke, and Tirloni was forced to tap out.

The stoppage came at the 1:08 mark of the opening round.

With a ticket to his first tourney final, Sarnavskiy (25-1 MMA, 4-1 BMMA) has won five straight and owns 21 stoppages in 25 career wins. Tirloni (16-5 MMA, 3-4 BMMA) falls to 2-4 in his past six and fails to reach the final of a fourth straight tournament.

‘Mighty Mo’ wins – by submission

So much for the slugfest.

With a bout between aging heavyweights and former training partners Siala-Mou Siliga and Ron Sparks, fans expected a guaranteed firefight. Instead, they got a quick ground clash and an unlikely submission.

Sparks shot early on “Mighty Mo,” but Siliga reversed the position, took top control and immediately moved to side control. Once there, though, he looked largely confused and struggled to land even short punches and elbows.

However, after settling in and securing the crucifix position, Siliga went to work on Sparks’ other arm. He torqued a keylock that forced grunts and moans from his opponent, and shortly after, the ref hopped in to wave off the fight at the 2:52 mark of the round.

The unlikely submission win marked a second straight victory for Siliga (5-2 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) and accounted for his fifth stoppage in five career wins. Sparks (8-3 MMA, 3-3 BMMA), meanwhile, has dropped three straight (all via first-round stoppage) since opening his career with an 8-0 mark.

Fadiora elbows way past Berry

Eugene Fadiora‘s patient counter-striking, dominant top game and razor-sharp elbows carried him to a second-round TKO victory over fellow middleweight Keith Berry.

Fadiora, an Englishman making his Bellator debut and fighting outside of his home country for the first time, successfully avoided Barry’s wild swings, continually dragged the fight to the mat, and did damage once there. After opening a cut in the first round, Fadiora scored takedowns in the second and continually targeted the wound with elbows.

Midway through the second round, Fadiora easily moved to side control, secured the crucifix position, and unloaded short but effective elbows. Berry exploded out of the vulnerable position once, but Fadiora quickly reclaimed it and forced the referee’s intervention with additional elbows.

The stoppage came at the 4:19 mark of the second round.

Fadiora (13-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) has now won four straight fights and owns 12 stoppages in 13 career wins. Berry (15-12 MMA, 2-2 BMMA), meanwhile, has dropped two straight under the Bellator banner.

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